The 1859 Pier Cafe & Bistro — Restaurant in England

Avoid. Rude unwelcoming and unhelpful who apparently DON'T CARE!! Apart from the view this place has nothing going for it, and there are other places in Swanage to eat with views.The waitress took our drinks order. My husband and mother chose their food and as I do not like fish found it difficult to select something. I saw headings sandwiches/hot sandwiches/ Baps. The drinks came and she took our order. She then (and only then) told us sandwiches etc were not available as toaster had been turned off. It is not mentioned on the menu that these are only served between certain times. Rather than moving I said OK can I just have a sandwich. To which the waitress said ' that should be ok'. She then returned to say the kitchen said they were too busy to make a sandwich. If 4 other people inside and 8 people outside (6 of which already had their food) is busy how would the cope if it was full?! We cancelled our order and drank our drinks(which we would not have had). When we left I told the waitress that they should mention the availability time on the menu or have a different menu for evenings. My husband said he was not happy that we had to go somewhere else to eat and could now not have a drink with his meal. A rude male member of staff said ' if you want a sandwich go to Greggs'. I would suggest you do, as their sandwiches are over priced at £8 for cheese and onion and the service you will get and Gregg's would be far better. My husband then said ' you don't care do you?' and a couple of male staff said "...

I was very disappointed with the value /quality of food and particularly the attitude of staff especially if you compare it to the pier head 100 yds along the seafront

This restaurant was fully booked inside but as it was a nice evening a superb location we sat out side. It is a more established eatery and I suppose that’s why the experience was a little poor as there was a feeling of “ your lucky to be eating here “ as they are in a blessed and privileged position.

We ordered a sea food combo which was cheap quality , greasy and with fat steak chips. The kids had chips and hard dry fish nuggets. It’s not hard to make fresh batter or bread crumbs.

The staff appeared to be the bigger downer. We were waiting out side to enter so the kids were hovering but the waitress appeared to be annoyed she had to detour a foot out of her way around the kids. . Another waitress then came out and shouted at a customer “ don’t you want your money back then ?” Then stormed off inside with the chap following. Then she came out again annoyed numbing aloud “ where has she gone ? “ as a woman had forgotten her table number. .. it seemed so so unprofessional and not nice to see. It wasn’t even that busy yet. Swanage is a family holiday environment as well so a little more attentive to children would be nice to see.

Some restaurants forget the whole customer experience and they may do ok but In light of the lockdown the public are more focused on attitudes and not reliant on...

What a shame this restaurant has gone seriously downhill since the new ownership.

The quality and standards are now appalling.

The food was extremely disappointing , poor quality ingredients and on reflection greatly overpriced. The burgers were nothing better than supermarket cheapies. The linguine crab was replaced with spaghetti with an incipid watery crab sauce. They had also run out of some the main dishes.

The service was lacking and unprofessional. Not once were we asked if the food was OK. The staff got the mains wrong and could not accommodate the dietary requirements professionally. We watched the staff stuffing their faces with crisps behind the till, guess they didn't want to eat their own food.

The wine prices are extortionate. £31 for a bottle of their cheapest rose wine was poor quality. They had also run out of large bottles of sparkling water.

We did not complain on the night because our friends had travelled a long way to share a special occasion meal together.

The poor service and food quality is sadly indicative of a badly run establishment. Have been coming here for years but the new owners really need to up their game. Won't be going back or recommending this place anymore.

Another point they locked one of the toilets inconveniencing one of our guests who had to use a toilet in another establishment. This place is not customer...